School board approved budget

Wednesday

Jul 7, 2010 at 10:57 AM

Last week the Jasper County School District's school board unanimously approved the third reading of the 2010-11 budget.The district's expected revenues are 25,233,683; the projected expenditures are $27,774,705.Board chairman Michael Hubbard said the $1.5 million difference is not ideal, but the board did not want to make cuts that greatly affected the children."We hate to see any kind of deficit but we didn't want to touch things that were going to affect the classroom," he said.The operation millage is capped at 2.1 percent.Projected state revenue funds at $8,138,196 are lower than last year by almost 7 percent.Projected salaries for teachers are $10,538,198, which is $394,063 less than last year.Classified salaries are $384, 857 less than last year and administrative salaries increase by$191,890. After the first reading of the budget in May, the administrative salaries were projected to increase by more than $466,126.

Ridgeland athletic upgrades coming?The board asked for requests for proposal (RFP) for possible multi-purpose fields at Ridgeland's campus.The campus is in need of a safe outdoor area for activities and the board has $475,000 available in building fund money, which would not negatively affect the general fund budget. In a presentation given to the board last Tuesday, it was noted the multi-purpose field, which would be a bit larger in area than a football field, would be constructed of premium grade Bermuda sod. The plan is to have the field constructed with appropriate sub-surface drainage and irrigation so that it would have adequate and prompt recovery after usage. The field would be able to complement other athletic plans, such as a rubberized track and tennis courts.There is a need for the field, according to the presentation, because during the past three years physical education classes have all been conducted indoors because there is no safe surface outdoors for games and activities; the band has prepared for parade performances by marching through the parking lot as after-school traffic moves past, through or around the band; the ROTC has been running laps on the bus loop, through the parking lot and then through unimproved fields until it gets back onto a road; and athletic teams have been transported to off-site fields for practice. The logistics of moving equipment and team members before and after practice has added about an hour to practice and also placed students on buses and in liability unnecessarily.The board requested bids to be brought back for its August meeting. Hubbard said once the board accepts a bid the project could potentially begin this year.

Playground equipment approvedThe board approved spending $24,400 in playground equipment at Ridgeland's campus.Two bids were received and Churchich Recreation and Design of Bluffton won the bid.Bliss Products of Lithia Springs, Ga., submitted two options, which were $18,000 and $20,500.District chief of staff Darryl Owens said Churchich Recreation and Design has done more than 15 projects in Beaufort County and the board was pleased with its plan."It was a real nice design," he said. "(The board) wants the best for our children in Jasper County."Owens hopes the equipment will be ready by Aug. 16.

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